So I recently found this fascinating lecture on ADHD. It turns out, it’s poorly named and doesn’t really have to do with an attention deficit.

Based on what you’ve said, I recommend watching the first 20 minutes, and continuing with it if it strikes you as relevant:

https://youtu.be/YSfCdBBqNXY

Have you ruled out the inattentive ADHD variant? It generally doesn't come with the impulsive hyperactivity that normal ADHD comes with. People with it are generally able to focus on activities that are highly stimulating for them (often obsessively), but have a hard time focusing attention on less stimulating activities.

I think you just described everybody.

Like many health issues (mental or otherwise), its a matter of degree.

Everyone can relate to the experience of lacking the focus to perform an un-stimulating task, and to the experience of procrastination - and so that often leads to the kind of blasé reaction you offer here (no offense). This is a very harmful kind of attitude.

Everyone can relate to the feeling of being sad too - that doesn't mean we're all suffering from depression. Most people can relate to the experience of drinking too much. But they aren't all alcoholics.

It's when the degree of such behaviors/states-of-mind become so prevalent and unshakable as to be destructive and harmful in a person's life, that they become disorders.

This is 100% true. A functioning and reasonably healthy person can exhibit or be affected by anything in the DSM5 - from hearing voices (God) to alcohol consumption (social lube) to compulsiveness (hard working).

It's only when that person can no longer function in a healthy way that it becomes a mental disorder.

And for many of us we slip in and out of it.

Even activities that are risky, drinking or skydiving, can be a part of a healthy and functional person.

And everyone anecdotes about how they "beat" that by doing some random activity, life is long. Keep beating it, but don't judge those that are affected by it. Just wait a decade and you very well may be the same situation. Life is all about kindness, however you can be kind, do it.

I suggest the following as this has worked well for me in the past.

Make a list of things that interest you, that you want to get done, and break each one down into a set of smaller tasks necessary to get that thing done. It doesn't have to be perfect initially, just make the initial list over the course of a day and rank order the tasks by how easy you think they will be to accomplish.

The next morning pick one task off the top of the list and either work on that task or think about how to better define the task to make it easier, this will often involve breaking it further down into smaller tasks. Some of the tasks will be easier to work on in sets, and some will be dependent on others. You can also pick a different task if you want, it is totally up to you.

As you finish a task, move it to the bottom of the list, mark it as complete, and make notes on what you did and additional paths to pursue. Typically this step will inspire additional things that you would like to get done, so add those as new tasks to the top of the list and reorder those tasks at the end of the day.

To make this easy for yourself, you will need to reserve 20-30 minutes at the end of each day to update the list, marking and describing accomplished tasks, adding new ones, and sorting the list.

Windows Sticky Notes is the perfect thing for this as it auto-saves (still backup though) has minimal editing features and is always there for you :)

Instead why not try the advice given in the article , that mindfulness meditation can be effectively used to reduce the emotional response of the mind and thereby reduce procrastination.

If you're making lists of tasks and then actually doing those tasks you're not really procrastinating, are you?

The trick is that while you are procrastinating you add items to the list, or add more detail to the existing items, so that they are easier to get started on. Maybe you could call that taking a break from procrastinating :)

That could be a boring job, incipient burnout, high functioning ADHD, mild depression, and any number of other things. You might want to spend some time with a therapist to dig into it, if you care to resolve it.

Or you could just be a Highly Sensitive Person.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_processing_sensitivity

Hyper focus is a trait of ADHD, which seems counter intuitive, as you imagine that ADHD means you can't concentrate on anything, which is not at all true.

ADHD is somewhat misleadingly named. It often isn't truly a deficit of attention but that the focus is itself misfocused ironically. Attention Control Deficit Disorder perhaps?

meditation is the answer.

Meditation is a word that doesn't mean anything in particular. Mindfulness meditation is a branding, that has to do with the practice of awareness and concentration techniques.

That isn't by itself enough to effectively regulate emotion in oneself. You need to cultivate the habit of checking on yourself (how am I? right now? and just before?), understanding what is needed and making the adjustment. All three parts have to fire, or it won't work.

Mindfulness is the first part, awareness is the second, but then you need to actually go ahead and change how you feel, and for that you'll need some breathing exercise or medication. Eating right and exercising helps a lot with this.